Mavericks Surf Contest Organizers Call Off Bankruptcy Auction

Company says it received no qualified bids for its assets

A plan to auction the Mavericks big wave surf competition in California has been called off and event organizers allege a “smear campaign” by an official with the county authority that regulates the contest is partly to blame.

Titans of Mavericks LLC and its parent company Cartel Management Inc. said in court papers Wednesday it canceled the auction because the company received no qualified bids for its assets. An auction could have resulted in a bankruptcy sale that would have shielded the event from a dispute over who...